Welcome to the new school year and a special welcome to everyone joining the Mother Teresa School (MTS) community in 2022.  It has been a challenging start and as the new Principal, with many years of experience, new beginnings always create a sense of nervousness and curiosity as you begin to learn the way a school operates and most importantly the best methods of communication to keep parents well informed about their children's learning and various events around the school. 

Leading a school community is something very special; a privilege.  I have been involved in education for forty years, with twenty years as a Principal in the Archdiocese.  I am a local Canberra girl who has observed the rapid growth in the Canberra area, especially Gungahlin over the years.  A little bit of Canberra history - Melrose Drive, in the Woden areas, was named after my grandparent's sheep property that covered the areas of Curtin and Lyons.   

Unfortunately, I have not been a visible presence around the school due to a leg injury that occurred after Christmas and is taking longer to heal than expected.  As a consequence, I am required to monitor the amount of time I am physically on my feet; not the start I had planned.  Fortunately, I am beginning to increase my hours at school and have been meeting regularly with the staff remotely, thanks to technology, to ensure the smooth running of the school.  Special thanks to Craig Hart and the staff for their preparation and all the work behind the school preparing the RAT kits for distribution.

A special welcome to new Mother Teresa School staff who are joining us this year: 

Janene Sadler (Kindergarten Ruby)
Tina Bruce (1 Ochre)
Kieran Russell (3 Cobalt)
Claire Dekuyer (3 Sapphire)
Jessica Allen (5 Platinum)
Belinda Hicks (6 Charcoal)
Stephanie Foley (Japanese Teacher)
Dahne Malan & Jackie Broch (Learning Support Team)
Ryoko  Kyasu (School Counsellor)

We also welcomed 97 new ELC students and 125 new students from Years K-6 on Monday. A very special welcome to all.

Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT)

RATs for Week 2 will be sent home with the children on Monday, as we did this week. Unfortunately, we are only receiving the RATs week by week. 

COVID Cases at School

Through ‘Compass’, we will advise you daily of the current situation at Mother Teresa School.  We will inform you about the cohort (group) of students and staff who worked with this group of students who may have had contact with a person who was infectious with COVID-19.

You are reminded that staff and students cannot attend school if they are showing any symptoms of COVID-19.  These include fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, extreme tiredness, unexplained chest pain or conjunctivitis (eye infection).

If symptoms occur at any time, you should not attend school and should undertake a Rapid Antigen Test. If a Rapid Antigen Test is positive, you/your child should isolate as someone who has tested positive to COVID-19.  If you cannot access a Rapid Antigen Test, you can attend a PCR (nose and throat swab) testing clinic.

Please remember that masks must be worn when on the school grounds and entering the office area. 

Morning Bell

This is a reminder that your morning bell goes at 8.45.  Anyone arriving after 8.55am must be signed in at the office by a parent as they will be considered as a late arrival.

Afternoon Parking - Basketball Courts Gate

As the teachers require the use of the basketball court in the afternoon the gates will not be opened until 2.45pm.  Please refrain from arriving early.  Parents will be required to wait in their cars until the bell goes.  All other gates will be opened at 3pm when school is finished for the day.  We must reduce the number of parents entering the school grounds.

Playground equipment

Unfortunately, young children should not be accessing the play equipment before or after school.  It is an issue as it encourages parents to stand around and chat, at a time when we have been asked to minimise contact.  

Bookclub

As we are endeavouring to minimise parental access into the school we are holding off distributing the Ashton Scholastic Bookclub brochures for this term.  My priority is to offer essential services and activities to the children and community this term.

Afternoon Chess Group

Monday afternoon chess club has been delayed to Term 2 to avoid mixing cohorts, this is also the case for many of our lunchtime activities, where grade levels would combine to participate in various activities.

Canteen

The canteen will be open for lunch orders in Week 2.  Please note that students from Years 4 to 6 will collect their lunch orders at 10:20, while Kindergarten to Year 3 will collect theirs from 11:00. 

There will be no over the counter sales at this stage.

Uniform Shop

The Uniform shop will be open next week.  Normal days of operation are:

Monday 8.30am - 9.00am
Wednesday 8.30am - 9.00am
Friday 8.30am - 9.00am

The shop will operate from the side sliding door of the hall (on the carpark side).  All parents must wait outside and one of the volunteers will meet you at the door to assist you. Please ensure you are wearing your mask.  If you know what you are looking for, it would be helpful to have the details on a piece of paper to hand to the ladies on arrival.  Cash payments on site or Eftpos is available at the front office.

Sport Days

Kindergarten - Wednesday & Friday
Year 1 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 2 - Monday & Friday
Year 3 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 4 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 5 - Tuesday & Friday
Year 6 - Tuesday & Thursday

Children are to wear their sport uniform to school on these days.

Lost Property

Could you please ensure that you label all items of clothing, drink bottles, lunch boxes etc, with a student name that is visible and able to be read.  In the past we have had lots of lost property which has no name and we were unable to find the owner.  All lost property with no names is handed to our second hand uniform shop for re-selling.  We are currently reviewing our lost property procedures and will provide more information on this after considering the options.

Special Prayers

It is with great sadness that I inform our community of the loss of one of our parents, Mr Anh Quang Pham.  Our condolences go out to the family and students in our school.  We will continue to support them during this difficult time.

God Bless

Carmel Maguire

WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS

The Whole school focus theme for this year is ‘Do small Things with Great Love’ and the Bible reference that supports our theme is Ephesians 2:1, in which St Paul says:

“We are God’s work of art,

Created in Christ Jesus to live the good life

As from the beginning he had meant us to live it.”

At Mother Teresa we will share our gifts and talents with each other throughout the year. The values we will be focussing on this term are:    

Compassion, Courtesy, Courage, Calmness, Consideration, Inclusion & Unity.

WELCOME TO THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

We do hope that all members of our school community have returned happy and eager to resume old friendships and be introduced to new ones.

Have you ever wondered about how gifted you are? Do you look at others and admire all the things they know and are able to do and achieve?

Do you find yourself wishing you were better at certain things and more gifted than others?

The Scripture for our whole school focus this term for you is a gentle reminder that you are more gifted than you realise. You have within you the greatest gift of all, and with it the chance to be a most outstanding person. You have the gift of love, and you can love in a unique way, in a way that no-one else can love.

Paul speaks of the great gifts of faith and grace that God has given us.

We need to think about what goodness God has given us. Accurately goodness is godliness. Goodness can often be seen in our actions, but our heart also has to be pure.

The goodness of Christ is to be demonstrated in our lives every day. We know that God loves each one of us. You are uniquely special to God.

The important thing is recognising that our talents, skills, and abilities don’t do any good if we keeping them for ourselves. But if we treat them as a gift we should be giving to others, we’ll find new ways to connect with others and help them in their life. And that’s the kind of gift that’s better to give than receive.

Do you agree that gifts should be shared? Do you know what your gifts are? Have you figured out a way to share them with others?

It's my belief that God gives us all gifts, special abilities that we have the privilege of developing to help us serve Him and humanity.

Peace and Best Wishes.

Anne Leet (Religious Education Co-ordinator)

Several families have asked for support with learning to locate appropriate activities should they find themselves at home quarantining with their child/children. The following resources are designed to assist parents and students who may be learning from home. These various websites contain links to learning activities for your child that can be completed online, with some printable activities, to assist with the continuation of learning at home. The links cover a broad range of topics in different subject areas across all year levels.

As a starting point, I encourage families to explore the links to the NSW and ACT Education resources for learning from home. You may need to download the document for the links to work.

All families with a uniformed ADF member should have received an email from the Defence School Mentor (Lee Revell) this week.  If you did not receive an email, you have not been identified as a Defence family.  Please contact the DSM with your contact details and your child's name via email (leanne.revell@cg.catholic.edu.au).